


A Step Aside

by EiswolfZero



Category: Batman: Arkham (Video Games), Justice League & Justice League Unlimited (Cartoons), Justice League - All Media Types
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, Colorblind Soulmate AU, Flash (JLU)/Batman(Arkham Knight), I am sorry please know that, M/M, Soulmate AU, changing dimensions, combined soulmate au, in which the JL from the cartoon might not be so charming as usual, just to be clear, throwing Wally in different dimensions, watch me do this over and over again, writing on your wrist soulmate au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-21
Updated: 2021-02-04
Packaged: 2021-03-10 17:14:50
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 15,010
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28220745
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EiswolfZero/pseuds/EiswolfZero
Summary: Maybe it wasn't so bad, being stuck in an alternate dimension.At least this way Wally could escape the reality of having a broken soul bond.
Relationships: Bruce Wayne/Wally West, Flash/Batman
Comments: 64
Kudos: 123





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is set in the Arkham universe but in no particular game, although I may use some of the plot points from them!  
> Enjoy!

“ _Flash! Get out of there!_ ”

“No, I’m almost there!” Wally yelled over the electronic tension that seemed to fill the entire room, making a buzzing noise that was almost impossible to talk over it. It seemed like a miracle that their communicators were still working in these kinds of conditions.

_“It’s too late. We need to evacuate everyone!”_

But Wally pushed on, even when another electrical wave washed over everything in a radial manner from the generator he was meant to get at. The wave had pushed him back a few meters and no matter how much he tried to speed towards it, it just kept pushing him back. It almost felt like whenever he used his powers that the electricity in the air reacted in a similar manner to two magnets repelling each other. And even when he didn’t use his powers it seemed impossible. His legs felt weighted down, his ears tingled underneath his cowl and made his nose itch. It was like wading through water. Acidic water. 

_Only a few more steps_! If he could just get to the energy source in the middle of it, disrupt it, then they wouldn't have to accept that an entire populated area of Metropolis was going to…whatever this thing was supposed to do. Wally hadn't been able to make sense of what the scientist who built it had babbled on about and the situation had been too dire to ask for an in-depth explanation. 

_"Y.. nee…..get …..ere now….. entire buil…...ing unstab..!"_

_"I'll….. him and-"_

He ignored the others over the com-unit, the electricity around him vibrating in his brain as he took another step closer. 

_There._

Just one more step. He could do this. He wouldn't admit defeat when he was so close! 

He more or less shuffled sideways, closer to the generator and held his hand out. The next step was _easy._ He just had to disrupt the energy flow. 

His fingers tingled and then burned the closer he got to the core. A keyboard with a glass pane above it keeping him from reaching inside. 

Another pulse washed over him, his vision blurring out for a moment. Colors bloomed and mixed together as a headache made itself known right behind his eyes, only for the colors to fluctuate back into grey. 

"I'm there!" He breathed out, not sure if the others could even hear him. "I made it, just one more second!" Wally yelled over the buzzing noise, over his growing headache and placed his hand against the glass pane. 

It was warm and humming. His hand burned from the raw energy behind it. "I'm doing it on three," he said more to himself than to anyone else. 

And then he vibrated his hand through, shattering the glass in the process. A few shards flew by his face, one of them cutting his cheek but he didn't even feel it. 

Instead he focused on his hand, vibrating it faster and faster to match the frequency of the energy inside the core to nullify it, an ominous hum appearing in the back of his head. He wondered if some glass had hit his head or if the headache was about to split him open. 

Several cracks echoed around him: The wall behind the machine cracking in two just as the ceiling behind him fell apart. The sound of someone landing heavily on the ground.

He could hear them shout his name. 

But all Wally could see was his hand within the floating particles, almost like bubbles dancing against his skin. For the fraction of a second he thought he could see the yellow of his suit, the orange lines of the particles as they touched him and he wondered if he was about to die. If that was the reason why he suddenly could see the yellow and orange core of the machine in full color. 

He marveled at it, ignoring the burning pain of the heat and energy. His eyes were transfixed on his own fingers, gently pushing the particles around. 

Until it all snapped back to black and white, to various shapes of grey. The core imploded in front of him, bathing him in even tinier particles, the heat licking at his skin as he thought that he was drowning in it. His legs gave out beneath him and his skin felt stretched too far, too wide. As if something was pulling on him.

Wally wondered when his knees would finally touch the ground but he just kept falling forward and forward and before he knew it the world went black. 

* * *

_He watched Batman’s' back disappear out of the canteen and with him the muted color around him._

_"You're doing it again,” Supes murmured into his meal._

_"Doing what?" Wally replied just as quiet as he stuffed his face with a few frites so slowly it would do nothing for his body. Or distract him from the fact that the world around him was once again a range between black and white. Gone was the greyish red of his suit, or the almost not there blue of Supes costume._

_Supes gave him an apologetic look before shaking his head. "Pining after him. I thought you guys talked it out."_

_At least they were far away enough from other tables for this topic. Unless Wally counted those who had enhanced hearing. He'd just have to hope they'd be polite enough to ignore them. He sighed._

_"We did. It's fine." It wasn't. There was clearly something wrong with him and no one was willing to look into it. Not after Batman had given his final word on it that_ some things cannot be explained _._

_But Supes shook his head. "It's not though. And I get it, it's probably not easy to talk about it but...you can't just stare him down with those puppy eyes of yours."_

_"W-well I'm not actively_ choosing to do that." _Now that was embarrassing. "It just happens." He mumbled the last part, his cheeks slightly warmer than before._

_"I'm not trying to scold you," Supes said with an apologetic expression. "It's just not going to end well this way. I just want to…"_

_"I know…" He did know. Supes only meant well, always would and always will. And Wally was grateful for a friend like him. It just didn't make it any easier to stop._

_Supes sighed and stood up, picking his tray up in the process. He stopped beside Wally and put a hand on his shoulder. "You know I'll listen if you want to talk, right? And who knows? Maybe you just need to moon over him for a bit to get over this." Clark's smile was genuine as he patted Wally's shoulder and left him alone at the table._

_These days it felt like everyone left him alone._

* * *

Consciousness returned slowly to Wally. His thoughts felt muddy and the awareness of his body far away. He thought he felt something cool against his back, even as his skin felt too hot and tight. There were voices around him but he couldn't really make sense of them through the ringing in his ears. 

"Do you s'pose it's the birdie?" 

"Are you dumb? The Bird doesn't wear yellow. And there's no cape either. It ain't the Bird." 

"So it's 'nother freak? Gotham has ’nough of' em." 

A foot was placed against Wally's side, trying to turn him over but all they did was lightly kick him, causing him to groan. 

"We could unmask him. Bring him to one of 'em bosses of yours. Might be worth something." 

"Can't be worth anything if no one knows the guy." 

"You havin' a better idea then?" 

"Anything better than standing in this rain." 

"What's it to you huh? Fine. If you don't wanna then I'll do it myself." 

Wally felt hands turn him over by the shoulders. He tried to open his eyes but his vision was blurry, blotches of black and murky grey blending together.

He felt fingers patting him up and down before finally pulling on his cowl. Yet he didn't have the energy to do more than slur a “ _please, don't”._

" _Watch out!_ " The voice farther away called out just as the fingers underneath his cowl vanished, his vision briefly turning black without having closed his eyes. There was a strange sound, like a heavy cloth being quickly moved around as well as skin being hit with shouts of pain. 

Then it was quiet again. 

The rain kept hitting Wally's face, so he had closed his eyes again when he felt someone touching his shoulder. Different from the guy before. 

Wary, Wally forced his eyes open again, trying to blink the blurriness away. It slightly worked since he could make out two large, pointy ears above him.

"B’man?? Wha’ happ’nd?" For a moment he did wonder what exactly had happened before the thought flew away as soon as his body was moved. The hand on his shoulder vanished as Batman tried to help him get up. Numerous aches in his body flared into existence and he almost dropped back onto the ground, if it hadn’t been for Batman catching him.

After that he felt a strong arm around his middle while his head was resting against something cool, hard and wet as his entire world seemed to tilt again. His stomach dropped and his head spun.

The thought that this must be how people felt when he carried them around briefly came to his mind before it flitted away again and he passed out again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One thing first, this will probably be a slow thing and is not planned out. We're just going with the flow here.  
>  I grew kind of insecure about my writing this year (no compliment fishing, you don't have to assure me, I still have fun writing for myself!) so I started and restarted some ideas and usually delete them when I won't make it past 2 chapters, but this one, this I want to see finished.
> 
> That being said, I only started the next chapter but I'm excited anyway!  
>  (As some of you know) I have such a weak spot for Arkham Bruce that I felt like he too deserved some Wally ;)  
>  It's just that the League from the Cartoon might appear a bit more cold due to that, but hey, we got some alternate Bruce here to make it alright <.<


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guys, I'm blown away by your comments and excitement for this story. You're too kind to me <33  
> I cannot tell you how much you guys motivated me. I'm already two pages into the next chapter as well!

When Wally came to his senses, he noticed that he was neither lying on hard ground nor held by strong arms. Instead, there was padding underneath him. Not enough to call it soft but enough to make it one less ache to add to his body. 

He slowly opened his eyes, his skin not impossibly hot anymore but still feeling too thin. As if he got pulled in too many directions. 

It vaguely reminded him of… "The Speed Force…" he murmured underneath his breath. 

Blinking a few times revealed a low ceiling above him. It vaguely reminded him of some of the medical tubes back in the Watchtower. Only darker. And high enough that he could stand up. 

He was still staring at it when someone talked to him, off behind his head. "You're finally awake." 

Wally turned his head to note that the other stood behind a pane of glass. The man had almost no hair, a dark mask over his eyes, almost like GL, and a two-toned outfit with a cape. 

Curious, Wally sat up and turned sideways to put his feet down, only now noticing the IV drip in his arm. 

"Your blood sugar was dropping drastically. You won't believe the amount of sugar that's in there. Anyone else would have a heart attack." The guy sounded like an odd mix of amused and serious.

"I think I do…," Wally weakly huffed back. Strangely enough, now that he sat upright, he saw that _he_ was the one behind the glass, not the other guy.

He inspected his little cell from his seat on the cot. It was tiny. If he were to stand up, he would be able to walk three steps from the glass wall to the back. The cot seemed to be able to fold up against the wall. There was a chair underneath a foldable tabletop too. 

"I'm a prisoner?" 

"Yeah," the guy said and crossed his arms. "For safety." 

"Safety? But…Batman was with me. I think." He might have dreamed that then. Wally noticed that more cells like his were on the other side of the room behind the guy. They were empty however. 

" _With_ you? He brought you here." 

Wally blinked, confused. "But…why did he lock me up? Did I do something? " 

His confusion seemed to be infectious, if the guy's expression was anything to go by. "That's what we're trying to find out. Might as well start talking now. _He_ won't be as nice."

"I…start talking about what?" Wally's head was starting to hurt again. 

"You know, the usual. Your name. Who you're working for. Why you were in that alley…" the guy trailed off as if it should be obvious which information he wanted. 

Wally stared at the man, not sure if he was joking or not. Sure, not everyone knew about the Flash but the League had made each of their names pretty common throughout the cities. "I'm the Flash-" 

"You're not." Batman came from the right. From where exactly he didn't know since Wally would have had to bend forward to peer around the corner.

"Wha-" Wally looked bewildered and quickly looked down at his chest. There he picked at his suit, peeling the symbol away before letting it slap back. "Excuse me? Of course I am. I'm wearing the suit?! Don't you recognize me?!" Desperate to prove his point, Wally jumped from the cot and turned to the glass itself, almost slamming into it when he felt like falling over. Instead, he held onto it for support. 

He groaned as Batman simply walked by to the giant computer to the left of them, nestled in between the cells on either side. The other guy stood by, quietly saying that Wally should watch out. 

"You're not," Batman repeated again as he typed away on the computer, bringing up several pictures of a red and yellow streak.

_There! That was him!_

" _This_ is the Flash." Batman turned in his direction, one hand still on the keyboard as he pressed a few things, changing the shown pictures as he talked. "You might have a similar suit but it's still different. And I _know_ that the Flash is in Central right now." The question _So, who are you?_ remained unspoken as both men looked at him while Wally gaped at the pictures shown. The pictures were a bit blurry due to the glass but…

Batman was _right._ Whoever was shown up there was wearing a Flash suit. But the red was darker. The suit wasn't just one material from what Wally could tell and the yellow seemed more metallic than his own ever was. And the symbol…it was a lightning bolt but with two edges rather than one. 

At a loss, Wally looked back at Batman only to take a step back and stare at the man before walking up to the glass again. "What's…when did you change suits?!" 

"You changed your outfit?" The guy threw in, clearly amused. 

"I didn't." 

"And you!" Wally looked at the other caped guy. "Who are you? His _partner_?" Because it seemed like it and he felt like having a mental meltdown at the sheer strangeness of it all while a small, little fear tingled at the back of his. Mind. _Oh no…_

But the guy, Batman's partner, just grinned. "Heavily depends on the context you're using it."

"Robin."

At least Batman's deadpan demeanor was familiar enough. And had Batman gotten _taller?!_

He didn't know who to stare at more. This strange, unfamiliar but familiar Batman or the new guy who worked with Batman. _With_ _Batman_! Who worked alone! Always, unless it was necessary! 

"I think I'm going to be sick," Wally murmured. He pushed himself away from the glass and sat down on the cot again, head in his head as he took deep breaths to calm himself down. 

Batman's voice was closer the next time he spoke, right to the side of the glass." Your blood sugar dropped dangerously low again. We can mix another drip for you, unless you feel like eating something." 

"Yeah." Wally's voice wavered. This really wasn't the Batman he knew. No one from the League would ask such a question in all honesty. "I could go for something with some calories. Like Pizza." He didn't lift his head, unwilling to face the reality of what he was slowly coming to realize. 

Which he should have realized as soon as Batman had shown up. It hadn't even been that long and yet…he had gotten used to the smooth transition of muted colors in his vision as soon as Batman was close but…lowering his hands from his face just showed him grey hands, his gloves gone and the sleeves pulled up for the drip. No muted colors on him anywhere. 

"Robin," he heard Batman demand. 

"Of course," Robin scoffed amused. "How many do you want? One, two?" 

"More like twenty or twenty-five."

"Sure feels like it sometimes, huh? How about I get four then?" 

Wally put his hands into his hair, sighing and closing his eyes. He didn't really feel like arguing right now, even when he should. 

There was the sound of heavy boots shuffling before he heard an incredulous " _Seriously?"_ before this Robin guy seemed to leave. 

The woozy feeling in his stomach faded somewhat so he sat up straighter again, getting his hands out of his hair and- he touched his face, his hands trailed from the bridge of his nose down to his neck where the cowl rested. 

"You _unmasked_ me?!" Wally turned to Batman who was standing at the computer again, typing away while standing.

"Of course." 

"What do you mean of course, that's such a no go!" He would have jumped up again too, but he knew he'd have just fallen flat on his face.

"You're not an ally just because you wear a colorful suit. That would make any clown out there one." Batman didn't even look at him.

Wally opened and closed his mouth a few times, broken sounds escaping him as he struggled to form any kind of argument against that. It _was_ a funny argument on Batman's side, but that was all it was!

"You're…partner, Robin?" Wally carefully began after he sat in silence for a while. "He asked me for my name. Taking my cowl off didn't really help my case, did it?" 

Batman stopped typing and turned his head towards him. "No."

That made sense. Although, with this idea in the back of his head, Wally wasn't so sure if it would have helped him if they had. "Uh..can I make a wild theory here? Depending on…on how things work around here, it either sounds very plausible or insane."

He took the ensuing silence as his answer to go on. “I might have landed myself in an alternate dimension. Your dimension and- no, hear me out!” Batman hadn’t even moved a muscle, let alone opened his mouth and Wally could still feel the doubt radiating from him. And who could blame Batman? Not only was he _Batman_ but the idea itself sounded insane to anyone who had never experienced anything similar before. “It’s not the first time I’ve seen another dimension. But...the other one was more like a mirror of mine, where the Justice League also existed. Here...not so much,” he trailed off.

Batman remained quiet in his stare and Wally let him take it in. Batman believing him was his only saving grace in all of this. 

“The Justice League? What is that?” If Batman was skeptical about all of this, he certainly didn’t let it show.

Wally took a deep breath. “The League is a bunch of superheroes working together as a group. Before we came together everyone basically stayed in their own city, taking care of crime there. But ever since we started working together, we take over someone’s city whose incapable for the time being. Or come together when there’s a greater threat.”

“...my alternate version is part of this?”

“Sure is,” Wally immediately provided. Maybe a little too fast with the look Batman gave him was any indication. But he didn’t feel like unraveling all of the mess the League was sometimes. They worked well together and that was what counted in the end. “So, would it help if you have my name?”

It was a weak diversion but so far Batman hadn’t outright called him insane, which could only be counted as a win. But this version of Batman was even worse to try to read. At least back home he had had the feeling to get used to it but here...there seemed absolutely no telling body language, not with all that armor on. There were no unnecessary movements and if they were the armor hid it perfectly. So whatever Batman thought about this...Wally could only hope for the best.

“Tell me your name,” Batman said and turned back to the computer.

“Wally, I mean Wallace Rudolph West.” He watched Batman type in the name and while he couldn’t really read whatever showed up on the screen, he could see that it was a list of names. “My parents are Mary West and Rudolph West.” Not that he wanted to claim them as his parents but this universe could be different enough that his birthday might not match up. Names and familial relationships would probably get him farther than anything else.

He leaned to the side without being too obvious about it, trying to see what Batman was doing on the screen but the monitor’s settings were just off enough that it seemed like an unsharp mess when it came to text through the glass in Wally’s cell, much like the pictures earlier. Undoubtedly on purpose. No one would want an enemy to see all the data.

It was silent while Batman looked through everything in a controlled pace, until he suddenly stopped. Batman didn’t say anything.

When the pause went on for longer than five seconds Wally perked up. Had Batman found something? “Did you find me? My alternate version at least,” he quickly corrected and looked from the unreadable screen to Batman’s back.

There was another heavy pause before he continued to the next person, back to the same pace. “No...there is no one who matches you.” The information on the screen soon vanished and Batman turned to him, even walking up to the cell to stand before it.

“How am I supposed to get out then? Cross my heart and hope to die while I promise that I mean well?” Wally asked from the cot.

“No. You earn it.”

“Earn it? How? My speed is no use in here!”

The sound of an old, heavy elevator and steps that drew closer echoed through the room, keeping Batman from replying as he turned his attention to the side. Robin stepped into view, a stack of pizza boxes in his arms as he walked past Batman and placed them beside the cell.

Batman followed and put a hand to the right of the glass, the same space where he apparently had some data about Wally. He could hear the tapping of fingers on a screen and before Wally knew it Robin placed a few of the boxes in a metal tray that vanished to the left of the cell. A second later they appeared inside his cell.

Wally looked between the two, Robin raising an eyebrow at him, and stood up, careful of the IV drip in his arm. He took the boxes and placed them on the small table against the wall on the other side of the cot while Robin put the next boxes in. Soon enough Wally had his little cell cramped with at least twenty of said boxes, the smell heavy in the air.

“There’s no way you can eat all of that,” Robin scoffed amused while Batman went out of Wally’s field of view.

At least Batman’s partner was halfway fun to talk to. “Not only can and will I do that, I’m gonna do that within _seconds_.”

Up went Robin’s eyebrow again. “Full of yourself, huh? Wanna bet?”

“That would be unfair, I know what I’m capable of,” Wally slightly grinned as he opened one of the boxes. His stomach growled loudly.

“Scared to lose? Don’t finish these within.. _a minute_ and you have to pay for them.”

It was clear that Robin didn’t believe in Wally’s speed for a second. Laughing somewhat, Wally agreed with a nod. “Alright. Got a stopwatch? I’m ready when you are.”

Robin snorted as he lifted his right arm and tapped something on the gauntlet, a display lightening up his face. “I’ll count you in. Three...two….one - GO!”

Wally went for it as soon as he heard the g of go, opening and closing the boxes as soon as a pizza was done. And it felt _good_. To have something in his stomach again. Sure, it wasn’t enough but it would be for now.

True to his word he finished within seconds, closing the last box and stretching his arms above his head, mindful of the drip. “Done!”

Robin tapped his gauntlet the second the last box got closed and stared, unbelieving, at the numbers. 

“I guess you’re paying for them after all. Thanks for the invite!”

“I’ve never seen someone move that fast,” Robin admitted as he put his arm down again, staring in mildly constrained awe before opening the little compartment for the boxes again.

Wally got the gist and moved to put the empty boxes into it again, watching them disappear and appear when Robin got them out of there. “I did warn you. I’m a Speedster. I move and live fast. I _am_ fast. There’s a reason why my blood sugar dropped so fast.”

“At least that makes more sense now. I guess we will have to get a steady food delivery then.” Robin stacked the boxes again, this time stomping on them to make them flat to carry them around.

“I’d appreciate that. Then I could go without the drip as well, my body’s just gonna get used to the steady intake otherwise,” he explained and sat down again. He watched the other pick up the boxes before trying to glance around the corner. “Did Batman leave?”

Robin simply nodded. “He did. That’s what he does. Don’t worry, I will come back.” Then he left too, walking out of Wally’s view. The sound of the elevator echoing through the room again.

“Great..,” Wally murmured to himself and tilted his head back, looking up at the ceiling. “I couldn’t have landed in Metropolis, could I?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I haven't decided yet if I'm setting the timeline after City or not. Meaning if Joker is dead or not.  
> But! I have read the 3 Arkham Knight comics that I have (never read them before, just owned them haha) and lemme tell you..there's a tasty plot thread in there P:  
> I originally read them to get a better feeling for Tim but he was barely in them a well, so let's see if I can do him justice. It's the first time afterall!
> 
> If you wanna see a plot thread from the games just tell me, I'll see if I can use them!


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I meant for this chapter to start of slow and ease into the action, but then it got longer and longer and well, here we are!  
> Hope you like it!

“You don’t really look like a Wallace,” Robin said as he went through a few combat exercises in the middle of the room, moving in circles around an invisible enemy while Wally sat on his cot, his legs pulled up as he watched.

“That’s why most people call me Wally. Fits me better.” The drip had gone out this morning, if Robin’s telling of the time was true. In here, with no light from outside, it was hard to tell. He had kept the sleeves of his suit rolled up to the elbow, seeing how he didn't have his gloves around and had no use for his suit in general. He actually wished he had some kind of hoodie to cover himself.

Robin made a fancy cartwheel before spinning into a kick. “True. _Wally_ ,” Robin tried out the name after a successful summer assault.

“Don’t wear it out.”

“Right,” Robin snorted while coming to a halt as his gauntlet made a beeping noise. He stared slightly above the gauntlet as if there was something there, his eyes suddenly having a white gloss as he talked to whoever was talking to him. Wally could only hear Robin’s side of the conversation.

“Don’t worry about it. Sure, I’m gonna be there….now? Fine.” Tapping his gauntlet, Robin turned to Wally and gave him a mock salute. “Duty calls, I’ll see you later!”

Wally watched him hurry out of the room and sighed. “Sure...I’ll be here.” He put his arms around his knees and stared out into the room, towards the other cells. He wondered what they were for. They didn’t really look like usual prisoner cells. Although...he had never thought about Batman taking prisoners before, even if it made sense in Wally’s case. Batman was cautious of him but at the same time Wally hadn’t done anything to actually get arrested by the police.

He wondered if Batman back home did the same. If Supes knew about this? Probably not. Supes would have an aneurism or something about how that wasn’t _right_. Which, to be fair, was also a solid argument. But Batman was his best bet for now so he wouldn’t just burst out of there. Besides, it would just make him look even more suspicious.

Of course there was still the other Flash. He glanced at the giant monitor, some kind of screensaver indicating that it wasn’t turned off, as he imagined the picture Batman had shown him. He wondered who the Flash was if it wasn’t his alternate version. Was it Barry? There was a chance that it was someone completely different, seeing how Wally didn’t exist either.

And what was it with universes killing him off or straight up not letting him exist? Should he be concerned when he got back home? Should he turn around and watch his every step because clearly fate didn’t like Wally West alive? Maybe he had already died. For the others in his universe. Wally didn’t even know what exactly had happened after he stuck his arm into the energy source. Had it all blown up? Had he saved people and buildings or had he just triggered it second earlier? Guilt for something he couldn’t even be sure of squeezed his insides and he put his forehead on his knees.

“ _You look a little glum_ ,” an almost mechanical voice from the ceiling suddenly said, startling Wally’s head up.

Confused he looked around before glancing up, not that there was much to see. “Uhm..?”

“ _Oh right, you can call me Oracle_ ,” the voice said. Oracle almost sounded amused. “ _Sorry if I startled you. There’s no way to warn you beforehand_.”

“Oracle? You’re _another_ partner?” What was this? Batman in his dimension practically had to be coerced into working together with the League from time to time and this Batman had what? Partners left and right? And he _didn’t_ pull a face the entire time? This really was some alternate dimension. It made Wally’s head spin.

“ _Oh, I like you already!_ ” There was something like a breathy laugh but the mechanical overlay made it sound more like a hum. “ _I am. Robin asked me to watch over you for a little while. You looked a bit sad._ ”

“You were...are watching me? This entire time?”

“ _Not always. I’m kinda busy but I’ve made time now_.”

It made sense. Of course Batman would want to know what a potential enemy in a cell would be doing all the time. Wally just...hadn’t thought about that until now.

There was an awkward silence when Wally didn’t reply. He could hear Oracle clear her throat.

“ _You...seem bored. And sad._ ”

“There’s not much to do but thinking. And my thoughts are racing, faster than you can imagine,” Wally sighed. “Don’t you guys have some internet or streaming service? Heck, I would even take some DVDs. Anything to not sit here for another entire day waiting for Robin to come back.” The first day inside this cell had been exciting enough, trying to find out what was going on. But yesterday had already dragged on since Robin obviously couldn’t be there the entire time. And even when he was there, he couldn’t entertain Wally the entire time.

Batman hadn’t shown his face here since the first day.

“ _Oh, that’s easy enough to solve,_ ” she said as the tiny monitor in his cell suddenly turned on. White static on it. “ _See the monitor? Give me a second with that._ ”

Wally hadn’t known what the monitor, hanging from the ceiling, would be for but at least now something was happening. He turned his body so that he could lean against the wall and look at it, curious as to what Oracle would do from wherever she was.

“Are you an AI?” Wally suddenly asked, causing laughter to come from the ceiling. Seeing how he had never heard from her and the first thing she had done was basically access a monitor from god knows where...it had been a valid question.

“ _God no_ ,” she chuckled. “ _But I guess I can come across as one, huh? You’re not the first one. Ah, there!_ ”

The white noise went away, revealing the sharp image of whatever he was seeing right now. “Is that a commercial?”

“ _Yeah. I set up a streaming service for you, the commercial should go away in a second. I can’t do more and I can’t give you control over it. Either Robin or me can change it or turn it off. Sorry. Any wishes?_ ”

Wally perked up a bit. “That’s fine, anything is better than staring at an empty room and overthinking things. Maybe something with action. Or at least fast paced?” The thing shown immediately changed, showing the start of a show or a movie.

“ _Want to watch the movie together?,_ ” she asked.

“Sure thing. Hope you don’t mind stupid movie commentary from time to time.”

“ _Don’t you worry,_ ” she chuckled. “ _I’m used to something like that._ ”

After that they fell into a companionable silence. Oracle made sure to let Wally know that she was still there and even laughed at some of his jokes. He had a genuinely nice time, if he ignored the fact that he was basically locked away.

Soon enough the movie was over and Wally had stretched his legs away from him, over the edge of the cot, as they argued whether or not the movie had actually been good.

“ _Look, the stunts might have been good but whatever technical jargon they used, it was so false I don’t even know where to start. No one would have been able to hack anything like that!_ ” Oracle reasoned with a huff.

“And I’m telling you that no one but a computer genius would know that. Your average movie watcher, someone like me, wouldn’t notice anything!” He wouldn’t even have noticed if she hadn’t said anything. It had looked exactly like anything he had seen Batman back home do before.

“ _They could have been a bit more accurate about it!_ ”

“I’m pretty sure all of their money went into the stunts and explosions, not into how correct everything was,” he chuckled amused as the sound of that loud elevator echoed through the room again.

Oracle audibly sighed. “ _I guess you’re right. I’m just saying it wouldn’t have been that hard. They could have just - Hey Robin! - They could have just genuinely googled it or something._ ”

“Oracle, Wally,” Robin greeted them both, his combat stick lying on his shoulders behind his back, his arms lazily draped over it. “You guys having fun while I’m out working? Typical.”

“ _Aww, we can totally watch another movie, if you want to sit in front of the cell,_ ” Oracle said, amused, as the credits on the screen ended and the next thing started to auto play. “ _Maybe get Wally something to eat first, I still have time to keep him company._ ”

Wally straightened his posture, giving Robin an apologetic smile. He could have gotten his own food after all, if he were allowed outside. Speaking of outside. “Will Batman show up again?” He hadn’t seen him since the first day where the other had simply left. Wally hadn’t even noticed at first.

Robin had turned around to go and get some food but stopped at the question, twirling his combat stick lazily. “Of course. He’s just busy, as usual.”

“Yeah but...he said I could go outside once I’ve proven myself. I can’t do that in here or without him actually giving me something to prove myself?” Wally asked, slightly concerned. He just hoped that it didn’t seem too impatient on his side, he couldn’t really help it. He was a Speedster!

“ _Don’t worry Wally_ ,” Oracle said. “ _Even without him being here, he knows what’s going on._ ”

Ah, right. Eyes and ears everywhere, even more so with Oracle and Robin around, Wally mused. “I guess,” he sighed. “I’m just getting a bit antsy is all. I would love to stretch my legs. Run a few laps around the world.”

Robin gave him a funny look again. He did that whenever Wally mentioned his powers, despite there being proof of another Speedster currently out and about somewhere in Central. If anything, it just proved that in this universe heroes seemed to stay in their lane even more than back home before the League.

“Around the world huh? Would love to see that,” Robin said after getting over the expression he had made.

“Once I’m out I can totally show you. If you’re nice I would even carry you with me.”

“You can do that?” Robin asked. “Wouldn’t the g-force be dangerous to me?”

 _“I was wondering that myself_.”

Wally looked from Robin to the monitor, since he still hadn’t figured out where the cameras were, and back to Robin. He shook his head. “Not at all. I’m not a scientist but my mentor, he’d said that whatever we, as Speedster, touch becomes protected or shielded by the same powers that protect us from the same problem. And it just happens. It’s nothing I could control or not. Let’s say I give you a piggyback ride, you would be totally fine. Your cape might throw off some of my speed but that’s the worst that would happen,” he explained as well as he remembered. His uncle had used better words for this but Wally _really_ wasn’t a scientist. “Well, that and me tripping. That’s fairly common as well.”

“ _Tripping at such a high speed doesn’t sound like fun,_ ” Oracle said at the same time as Robin tried to hold back a laugh. Earning him a reprimanding “ _Robin_.”

“What?,” he asked with his arms spread to the side. “Just imagine it!”

“It can be pretty funny, especially on video,” Wally said amused, rubbing his nose due to some phantom tingling by just remembering such an occasion. “Just not in the moment it happens. Thankfully I heal fast too, so it’s fine.”

“Now it’s slowly starting to get unfair, just saying,” Robin obviously teased but probably meant some of it anyway.

“Depends on how you view it. I do have to eat a lot. All the time, just to keep that machine going,” Wally argued which earned him a that’s-fair-expression, while Oracle butted in again.

“ _Speaking of which, you really should get some food. We just got the drip out._ ”

“Yeah, yeah, I’ll be back in a few.” Waving Oracle off, Robin quickly went out of the room again, the sound of the elevator soon following.

“ _Wally, not that I mind but should you really just...tell us these things?_ ”

Confused, Wally stared at whatever was currently playing without actually seeing it. “I trust you guys. So far you’ve only helped, safe for the keeping me inside a cell thing. I’ve seen an alternate mirror verse where...Batman was not that good and I feel like I’ve got a good gist that you guys only mean well. At least for the city. And not in a ‘I mean well but I’m actually doing bad things because of that’ way.” He meant it too. Lord Batman had had seemed...strange, even back then. But he had been a Batman and since his Batman had also trusted him to a certain extent Wally had dismissed it as well. 

He could hear her sigh. “ _We do. Mean well, but coming from someone who’s worked with Batman for quite a while now, I just can’t help but think what I would do in your situation._ ”

Wally leaned back against the wall again, crossing his legs as he thought about it and ultimately shrugged. “That seems to be the difference between Speedsters and like...you guys. The Batmen’s?” He chuckled amused, getting an overdramatically “ _God no!_ ” from Oracle.

“My mentor was like this too. Like me I mean. Or I’m like him. Back home I even made sure to talk and visit my Rogues once they were behind bars. Making sure they’re well. That’s what my mentor did and that’s what I do. The same way you probably inherited Batman’s all-encompassing distrust.”

“ _Thats-_ ”

“We’re back!” Robin called out from outside of his view before Batman walked briskly towards the computer, followed by Robin carrying an array of food that he immediately went to give Wally over the tray in the wall.

“Oh god, did he hear me!?” Wally whispered to the left of him, away from Batman.

Oracle just chuckled and whispered back, despite the volume of her voice remaining the same. “ _I’m sure it’s fine, don’t worry!_ ”

“Oracle,” Batman simply said, not acknowledging them whatsoever. “I’m sending you some data to analyze. The origin of it is scrambled. We need to find out who sent it and where it came from.”

“ _On it!_ ” With that her voice seemed to cut out while Wally took the food from the tray. It was almost already a routine, getting all the food in, eating it, and then giving whatever boxes it came in back to Robin.

Wally didn’t even bother sitting down while he finished it all off, some of his attention span used to find out if Batman was in turn paying him any attention. If only to find out if he was _any closer_ to proving himself anytime soon. Although by the furious typing that he could hear he figured that he wasn’t a priority right now.

He sighed. He supposed as the food kept on coming it would be fine. At least now he had something to do with the streaming service inside his cell. Wally watched Robin get the used boxes to the side while also paying attention to Batman and Oracle.

“ _Found it_ ,” Oracle said as data appeared on the screen. Some kind of map that zoomed in to a place, but as usual most of it was too blurry for Wally to actually read any of it.

Batman continued his typing but paused once in a while to watch where the zoom would focus in towards. “There,” he added and stopped typing. “One of the goons actually mentioned this area. Maybe he left something behind that will clue us in to the next murder.”

“Or we look at the calendar, what kind of special day comes up next,” Robin provided. Apparently, it only earned him some kind of Batglare that he shrugged away with a simple “Just saying.”

Batman took a step back from the computer and tapped around on his right gauntlet, a common theme it seemed. “I’ve uploaded the location to my HUD. You two take care of everything else that comes up,” Batman told the two of them while he turned around and left.

Wally couldn’t even be mad. If there were lives at stake, he absolutely understood the urgency and didn’t mind being ignored. He just hoped that whatever Batman was searching for he would find sooner rather than later.

Robin looked after Batman as well before turning to the Computer and then Wally. “That’s my cue to leave as well. But I’ll be back as usual,” he offered him with a small smile before giving a mock salute and following to where Batman had left.

“Great,” Wally sighed. “But you still got some time, right?” He asked towards the ceiling.

“ _Sorry_ ,” Oracle piped up. “ _I need to focus on this as well. Will you be alright with what’s on to watch?_ ”

His shoulders slumped forward a bit but it wasn’t like he could change the fact. “Yeah, yeah I’ll be fine. Thanks!” It wasn’t her fault that he was in here. He would manage with a movie or two.

* * *

_“Are you serious?” Wally turned away from the window that showed a really nice view of Earth. The side they were currently seeing shrouded in darkness. The lights were so pretty from up here, despite being all black and white and grey._

_“I’m just saying that you can’t go on like this,” GL argued as he leaned with his back against the giant window, arms crossed. “It’s throwing everyone off balance. We’re concerned.”_

_Was GL for real? “Are you saying that because you’re concerned about me or concerned about how I behave during missions? Because let me tell you I would never let anything happen to you guys. Or someone else. But thanks for the vote of confidence,” Wally scoffed and rolled his eyes, a frown on his face._

_“You know I don’t mean it like_ that _.”_

_“Do I? Last time I checked I wasn’t the one having rejected my soulmate and stopped talking to everyone for an entire month. If it hadn’t been for some missions, I wouldn’t even have seen you at all!” This was just getting ridiculous. He wasn’t even allowed to sulk for longer than two days?? How did everyone expect him to behave after what happened?!_

_GL sighed, as if Wally was a kid that didn’t really understand what he wanted to say. “Which is why I’m trying to help you. Learn from my mistakes! I know now that I could have handled that better.”_

_“Your mistakes?! Your mistake was rejecting your soul bond on your own. You two ended up together anyway,” Wally said, mildly insulted. “I haven’t done anything like that. I didn’t_ choose this _.”_

_“See!” GL perked up as if that was the answer to everything. “You didn’t choose it. Which is why you could just...accept it? Okay, no sorry, that was lame,” GL quickly corrected upon getting a mean look from Wally. ”What I mean is, in the end you can’t change it. Do you want to be hung up on this your entire life?”_

_The hand on Wally’s shoulder was a welcome weight, if only to know that GL truly cared and was just really bad at words. “Of course not,” he admitted. “But can’t I be sad about it at least a little while? I promise to be back to the old me soon enough…”_

_GL gave Wally a small strained smile. “Fair enough.” He squeezed Wally’s shoulder before removing his hand. “Take your time, kid.”_

* * *

Wally watched Robin pace back and forth during their conversation. Then again it had turned more into a monologue, since Robin wasn’t _really_ paying attention. Hadn’t been for a little while now. It had started the day before as well and had gotten worse this day around.

“And then,” Wally began as Robin continued to make some agreeable noises that were meant to show he was still listening. “I straight up killed the guy.”

“Good good,” Robin nodded and glanced at the Computer before suddenly stopping and turning to Wally. “Wait, what?”

“Heh, knew that would get you,” Wally chuckled from his cross-legged position on the cot. He hoped that he could get out of there _soon_ , he was getting kind of antsy. And watching Robin pace and forth wasn’t helping at all. “I was just kidding but you weren’t really replying anymore. Had to get your attention somehow.”

Robin’s shoulders slumped as he sighed and sat down on the one chair that was there for the computer. “I’m sorry. I’m a little tense right now. I know I shouldn’t be but…”

“Did something happen? Are the other’s alright?” Ever since Batman had walked in and asked Oracle to analyze some data he hadn’t seen or heard from the both of them. That had been three days ago. Ever since then Robin’s anxiety levels had slowly gone upwards.

“Oracle is fine,” Robin waved off. “Batman...it’s not the first time that he doesn’t respond for a day or two. I’m just worrying too much. It’s fine.”

“It’s not. If it’s worrying you?” Wally frowned. “I get that you’re worried. I’d be too. I am now too.”

Robin stood up again and turned to the computer. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to do that. How about I get us some food and watch a movie?” He wasn’t even looking at Wally while he spoke. Robin furiously typed on the computer, activating some kind of searching program that Wally had seen the day before.

He just stared at Robin who finally turned around and sighed. “Not the most subtle change of topics but it will have to do.”

“It’s fine,” Wally assured him. “If you want to watch a movie to take your mind off of it? If there’s something I could do to-”

“I’ll keep that in mind thank you.” Robin turned to walk out of the room. “I’ll be right back with some food. Just give me a few minutes.”

“Sure.” Wally said as he watched after Robin until he got out of his field of view. At least now he knew why there was such an ominous cloud over Robin’s head. Why no one else had showed up. Robin never really forgot about him but there were extended periods of times where Wally was left alone. He had never before been so grateful for a never-ending stream of random movies like he had on the small monitor inside his cell.

Otherwise, he might have been tempted to just vibrate out of here.

* * *

It was two days later when the door to his cell suddenly opened up, the glass pane sliding away as Robin appeared over Wally’s head. “Hey, wake up.”

Wally blinked his nap away and sat up, giving the open cell a confused look before getting down from the cot as Robin took him by the wrist and pulled him right outside of it. “What’s going on??”

“You wanted to prove yourself?” Robin asked, tense. “Now you’ve got your chance. You need to find Batman.”


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow. This got way longer than I expected. My notes for this one had been very simple and very straight forward and...I didn't even get to all of it in this one.  
> But I'm sure no one's gonna complain about some long chapters. At least I know I wouldn't ;D
> 
> I apologize beforehand if some of the segments seem a bit long or weird. But I've read over it so much now that I figured if I don't find anything better by now, it should be good haha
> 
> PS: A new tag, just to be safe!

_“You wanted to prove yourself?” Robin asked, tense. “Now you’ve got your chance. You need to find Batman.”_

“Wait, what?” Wally held his hands out when Robin lifted them up and put dark, grey gloves that only kind of fit on them.

“These are my old ones, since yours were fried when Batman found you, so there’s no communicator in them. Put this one into your ear.”

A tiny communicator was placed into Wally’s hand that he looked over before putting it into his ear. There was some static before it faded away. It almost reminded Wally of the old communicators of the League, before he got one put into the earpiece of his cowl.

After that a thin belt was thrown around his waist and fastened. Wally looked down at it while Robin quickly walked around the room and suddenly stopped right in front of Wally again “Hold your breath!”

A spray can appeared in front of him before Wally could question why. So he quickly stopped breathing as Robin sprayed his entire chest area black, effectively making a mess of the suit. Wally didn’t even see the spray can being chucked somewhere into the room as he looked down at his chest and pulled the suit away with two fingers. “What the hell?? What did you do that for?! And my skin, I’m so gonna need a long shower after this!” He made a face as he felt the wet suit slap back against his chest.

Robin simply stepped back and admired his work. “This will do.” After that he held out a weird black thing and held it out for Wally to take. 

Wally took it. “Could you like, _explain anything_??!” It was a slim, black mask for his eyes. 

“You’re going to go out there and look for Batman. He’s been gone for five days now and none of us can find him. You want to help? This is your chance.” Robin said as he stepped up into Wally’s personal space again and pulled a bit at the gloves, making sure they fit well enough. “We can’t have you be associated with the Flash here. If word gets out and somehow reaches Central, we’re going to have a curious Speedster coming to Gotham and we’ve got our own problems.”

“God forbid you ask for help…,” Wally murmured under his breath.

“What?”

“Nothing! I’m not a dog, how do you expect me to find him. Do we have a clue where he went??” Because if not then it would take time, even for him. Looking at every crook and corner that there was in a city, combined with different levels of heights and floors...yeah, he’d need a lot more food and time as well.

The other nodded. “We have.” He walked up to the computer and tapped the keys a few times as a map of Gotham appeared. “Over there is Arkham City. It’s a cut off section of Gotham which houses most criminals from the Asylum and Blackgate prison.”

“Wait. You guys have an entire..district as a prison?” Wally stared at the highlighted section that appeared to be Arkham City. How weird was that. He had never seen anything like that before. Did they have their own shops in there? How did the prisoners live in there?

“We do. Although it’s a failing experiment, it’s just a matter of time,” Robin said ominously as he highlighted another part of Arkham City itself. “Before Batman vanished, he was investigating something in that area. I already went to check there but didn’t find anything. Not even a trace. It’s a rundown part of the prison itself. Due to being Old Gotham before, parts of the buildings collapsed as the ground gave way. It was never repaired. Batman was trying to find a man called Julian Day aka Calendar Man.”

Wally took everything in, his mind reeling from the fact that there was an entire prison district and a guy called Calendar Man who one upped Batman?? This dimension was way too strange. “So I’m going to go there and inspect everything again and..work from there?”

“Exactly. Report anything of significance you find to me and Oracle. The communicator will connect you to the both of us at all times. We will know your location from it as well.”

“Alright.” Wally nodded and rightened the gloves himself. They were just slightly too big but would fit well enough for the next few...minutes or hours. Depending on how this one would go. “How do I get out and in which direction is this Arkham City?”

Robin had turned his back to Wally to stare at the map of Gotham but glanced back before actually turned around. “Right. Come.” With that he walked towards an old elevator outside of the room. Wally followed him and stepped in as well.

They rode the elevator up and stepped out on a giant rooftop. It even had a helicopter landing space!

The wind whipped against Wally’s face. He wished he could use his cowl to protect his head from the sharp air. He took the time to look at his gloves and sighed. He must look a mess with the red suit, black gloves and mask. His chest smeared black as well. And it was also freezing out here, he kinda wished for a jacket but his own body heat would have to do. 

He followed Robin to a railing to the left of the landing pad that let them overlook part of Gotham, a giant body of water in between and then more of the City in the distance. “Arkham City is over there. Watch out when you enter it, the criminals in there are...bored, I guess. Try not to be seen, at least not speeding around.” Then he turned slightly to the right. “North is over there. You need to go to the western part of Arkham City. Not that you could miss it. Part of the buildings have fallen into the water. When you see that you’re on the right way. After that...it’s your call to look around,” Robin said as he turned back to Wally, holding out a hand.

Wally looked into the distance and then down at the offered hand. He put his arm into the hand and held onto Robin’s arm in turn, both nodding at each other.

“Find him, don’t just run away.”

“I won’t,” Wally huffed out. “I’ll keep you updated, don’t worry.” He let go of Robin’s hand and gave a mock salute before speeding away, over the water.

The distance easily fell away, leaving Wally to run alongside the high wall that seemed to encase Arkham City. He figured he wouldn't just run over it and cross the entire prison but to go around and then enter where he figured the best place was going to be. 

Upon reaching the west side of Arkham City, the decision fell away since the wall had stopped a while ago.

Awed in a rather morbid way, Wally stopped atop a slanted rooftop that peaked out of the water to get a good idea of what he was actually seeing. 

Several buildings stood at an angle and the farther out into the water the buildings went, the deeper they had sunk. Who knew how many floors the one he stood up on really had? He couldn't even see a point to enter it without jumping into the water. 

He needed a higher vantage point to see more of it. The buildings ahead of him showed around three floors already and went higher up farther in. So he went for the closest highest building he could see, speeding up its wall. To his surprise the sign at the front of it was still working, casting an eerily bright light across the water that gently flowed between the buildings. Wally couldn't see what it said but he had other things to worry about anyway.

If Robin was right, then Batman had been around here somewhere. And while it did help him to have such a small area to look through it still seemed like an impossible task. Who knew what Batman had been looking for around here? This certainly didn't seem like a place to investigate someone called Calendar Man.

Some movement caught Wally's attention, so he ducked lower to avoid detection and watched figures walk around on the rooftop of the more intact buildings farther in. They were just…hanging out there? He couldn't really see them in this light, the reflected neon sign making it difficult to look past the brightness. But he could see smoke and hear distant, rough laughter.

Wally watched them for a minute before figuring he'd just have to work around them. Hopefully they were the only ones out here.

It didn't even seem like an interesting place to hang out at, he mused to himself before getting down from the roof and entering the building he stood on. The higher floor and then some of it was still above the water, one of the windows smashed in and the bars ripped away.

The building inside was dark, the neon light from outside too high up to be of any help. If only, it enhanced the eerie shadows in front of him. Wally stood there for a few seconds until the unfamiliar weight around his waist reminded him that Robin had given him…something. The other hadn't even explained it. At all. 

Wally huffed out some air and started to inspect what he had with him. It seemed that he had three things attached to it. Feeling around, he took what felt like what might be a flashlight. He searched for any kind of button on it and actually found one at the end of it. Blinking at the sudden light, thankfully away from him, Wally took stock of what else he had. There was actually one folded Batarang and…he took the other thing out. It too unfolded once, leaving him with a tiny grapple. 

"What the hell…" Wally murmured to himself and tried to fold it back. "What I'm I supposed to do with this? What would I need _that_ for?" Complaining helped glossing over the fact that once he managed to get the grapple to fold again, that it hadn't actually been difficult. "Turns out I'm just stupid," he said to himself and shined the light around. 

Everything was in disarray, papers wet and strewn about. As if everyone had just gotten up and left instead of taking things with them. 

Well, at least he couldn't mess it up more than it already was. Using his speed, Wally went through every accessible room and looked into those he couldn't access but look into. But there wasn't any trace that would tell him that Batman had been there. He secretly wondered if he would actually _recognize_ something that would tell him Batman had been anywhere. 

Wally left the building after that. All of this would have been easier if the buildings would've been on the ground, without all that water. Sure, it wouldn't really slow him down but it did make things difficult. Entering a building, searching floors cast in darkness or half flooded. And he wouldn't put it past any Batman to wade through water to find something or someone. In this case a murderer. 

A murderer… Wally felt a light go on above his head. Maybe he shouldn't look for something that told him that Batman had been there but rather a place he would check out to find a murderer. And a murderer wouldn't hide away in a stinky, wet building. Unless they were desperate. But from the short bit of information he had witnessed the murderer was actually on a killing streak. That usually meant planning, especially if calendars were involved. 

Feeling confident about it, Wally started to zip around the buildings. He entered all of them but dismissed them faster this time. Especially those that had only a few rooms actually habitable. All of them looked untouched for a while now, in chaos or flooded. 

Then there were those where even lower floors were accessible, the water somehow pushing against the windows but never really breaking them. Impressive for such old buildings. And making them creepier than they should have been. In one of those he even found a room full of guys hunkering down with a fireplace, drinking and laughing.

He quickly left them before they noticed him, after making sure that they weren't talking about Batman in any suspicious way. 

It was one of the buildings where the base was half in water, half outside when he found something. He had meant to check out the building when two burly guys had gotten out of a hatch on the roof. Wally had quickly latched himself on a window just below the edge of the roof, ignoring the fact that he was a few floors up high. Instead, he concentrated on the voice not far away from him.

"Why do we hafta stay out here. 'm freezing my balls off," one of them said, the sound of a lighter following shortly. 

"It's not like it's any warmer down there. And it's boring as fuck anyway." 

"At least there's no wind tho. An' it's boring here too." 

"Then quit complaining. At least we get paid for freezing your balls off." 

"Haha, ain't you funny, asshole." 

They bickered a bit more as Wally peeked over the edge cautiously. Both had moved apart, almost like sentries, overlooking as much as they cared to actually look out for. 

So they got paid to be here? That was already suspicious enough for him to check this building out. The only problem was that the hatch they had come out of had been rather squeaky, one of the reasons he had noticed them early enough. Which meant he had to get rid of them. 

He looked between the two of them and simply took off. He grabbed the lighter looking of the two, the one smoking, and simply dashed off and placed him in another part of Arkham City before going back to the roof to deal with the other guy. 

Interestingly enough he didn't have to. Wally had only been gone for around two seconds but he _had_ cut off the smoking guy from saying something, which had drawn the other guys attention who was now wildly looking around. 

Wally watched from another roof as the guy muttered something and then took off from the roof. "Nobody said nothing 'bout dealing with the Bat tonight." And then the guy was hastily climbing down the outside of the building.

Wally watched in fascination. 

It felt weird to ride on the Batman's reputation. But it certainly made his current job easier. 

At least the roof was empty now. He made for the hatch, the heavy metal squeaking as predicted before he slipped inside, the hatch falling shut with a heavy clank. 

Light filtered in from outside the air, dusty and quiet. That one guy had been right, at least there was no chilling wind in here. 

He took a moment to get the flashlight out and then went for it. The current floor didn't hold anything of interest nor did those further down. Until he reached the second floor. There was a gaping hole in it, as was in the ground level floor. He shined his light down but could only make out the ground at the end of the hole which was all dark as well. He used the stairs to get to the base level and braved the jump down as he was. Of course he could have used his speed to try running down the hole and then on the ceiling and walls of the room below. But he didn't dare it since he couldn't see the walls or what lied beyond the angle he could shine his light in. 

His stomach dropped as he fell through the air, the ground farther away than he had perceived it as. But all that skidding and tripping all these years didn't leave him without some skills. In that case properly rolling himself after a longer fall, some rubble on the ground helping him with the angle. Until his knee banged against a loose brick wall and he quietly cursed up a storm as the pain slowly faded away. "Goddamn," he murmured to himself and took in his new surroundings. 

This was either the basement or something unconnected to the building above him, the walls not really matching up like before. The room was bigger and he could see no stairs leading down this way. Well…glancing at the sunken and collapsed wall there might have been once. Thankfully it seemed to be the dry side of the building or he would have walked through mud. 

Most of the room was just a mess like the other ones he had searched through. There was absolutely _nothing_ that would make this place valuable, especially not enough to pay two guys to guard it. 

Which is exactly why Wally took a closer look at everything and…the light and the dust might have been playing tricks on him but the brittle dust and dirt looked disturbed. And not by him. 

He shined his light at it and followed the disturbance to one of the corners of the room where it became clear with every step that he wasn't imagining it. Here where no wind or other people could get to it, it was more obvious. All of the traces were too overlapping however to make anything out. 

The little patch led him to a slab of concrete, lying innocently on the ground where the trace ended up going _under_. It was also rather particular to find that the slab of concrete didn't seem to actually belong here. There was no hole above it or in the walls. Nothing around where the piece could have fallen from. 

Wally walked around it and noticed that there was some space between the wall and the slab of concrete and seeing how the trail led him there… 

Putting the flashlight down at the ground, Wally wedged himself in the tiny space so that his back rested against the wall and he could brace his feet against the concrete. "Alright. Channel your inner Superman." He glared at the offending piece of rubble and _pushed_. "Nghaaa!" A shout ripped free as he gave it all he had. Only to suddenly stop and fall on his ass, breathing heavily. 

He took a second to catch his breath and glare at the heavy slab. Musing about his option, Wally did consider vibrating through it. Only that that could be potentially dangerous depending on what was underneath it. What if it was Batman? What if it was just an empty room and nobody would care? 

_No,_ he thought and put his feet back against the concrete. _He could do this._

Pushing with all his might, Wally felt like he was going to tear something within his body but he kept on going. And just when he fought something was actually about to snap within his body did the slab start to move. Just a little bit at first, but once Wally felt the thing move, he kept on pushing, barely breathing as he slowly stretched his legs, pushing the concrete away until he fell on his ass, the distance between the wall and the slab too big.

Wally heaved as he crumbled backwards, catching his breath. His stomach felt on fire from the sheer tension he had put it through. The noise of something rolling over the dirty ground made him turn his head to the side where he could see his flashlight rolling into a hole in the ground that he had freed up.

“Of course,” he groaned and let his head lie back again, his entire body slowly calming down. He just hoped that whatever was down there wouldn’t be alerted now. Not that it was out of the ordinary for him. Here he was on a delicate search for someone and he straight up just let his flashlight fall into some hole.

Still, he gave himself a few more seconds while trying to listen past the small rush in his ears which was quickly going away but...there was nothing. Despite the fading ache in his muscles, Wally felt too curious to continue catching his breath and slowly sat up. His legs quivered in a way he rarely ever felt but he knew it would pass soon enough, and moved closer to the hole he had opened up. It was bigger than what he freed up but there was no way he would be able to move the slab of concrete further than he did. Besides, the freed-up hole was enough for him to slip through. If he wanted to.

He peered down into it and could see his flashlight on the ground, shining its light against a wall it had landed in front of. Which was no help at all. Although...the room below him didn’t seem entirely dark. There was a light coming from somewhere to the side and he cautiously stuck his head into the hole to see where it came from. The room was actually a small corridor with a weak, flickering light at the end of it. 

Well...he had expected many things, most of all nothing, but this was..promising. He could picture Batman finding this and following it. The question was why the hole had been closed off. Or Batman hadn’t come through here after all and he was just chasing a ghost. But he didn’t really have any other leads. With a sigh, Wally turned around and let his legs dangle into the hole. There he lowered himself as far as he could take it with his arms and let himself fall down.

He landed with a dull thud, almost falling to the side before catching himself. His legs were protesting but he ignored it. 

“Alright,” Wally said to himself as a whisper and grabbed his flashlight. He made sure to turn it off before walking down the corridor to the flickering light. This almost seemed like some kind of b horror movie. If he wouldn’t have his powers, he would have probably turned around a long time ago. No sane person would hang out around here save for some murderers.

But that was probably just Gotham.

Under the flickering light there was a steel door which wasn't locked. Wally opened it slowly, cautious of making any noise and glanced into the next room. “What…,” he breathed out and opened the door wider. In front of him was a square room, only that the entire floor was missing. The room was illuminated quite well. He heard someone breath heavily and stepped forward, as far into the room as he could and looked down.

“Batman!” Down there was Batman!! Taking a step back, Wally used his speed to get down the wall, uncaring of any tripping hazards like he had been before. He skidded to a stop besides the heavily breathing Batman. For just a second he allowed himself to look around and startled at the...were they...multiple _Grundys_?? They were lying mostly in one corner, looking like corpses. Horrific, giant corpses. If that was this universe's version of Grundy...the one back home wasn’t nearly this horrific. Or giant. Or had any twins as far as he was aware.

Wally turned back to Batman. There didn’t seem to be any obvious injuries save for what one would sustain from a battle with Grundy. Or multiple ones. And the heavy breathing. “Batman,” he whispered.

Had the other been here the entire time he had been missing? Or had Wally just catched up to him?

“Hey, Batman!” His voice got slightly louder but he didn’t shout. Just because he couldn’t see anyone didn’t mean they were alone here. These Grundys had to come from somewhere….or it was just normal in this universe.

But Batman wasn’t reacting and that made Wally nervous, so he activated his communicator. “Oracle,” he whispered. “I’ve found Batman but he seems to be out cold. No life-threatening injuries that I can see..,” he trailed off as he heard the hinges of a heavy door opening behind him.

“ _I knew you could do it!”_ Oracle said and sounded relieved. “ _Wait...are you underground? Your signal isn't as strong as it should be.”_

Turning to the side, Wally made sure to stay close to Batman as he watched a bald guy enter the room. Behind him two more, very intimidating looking Grundys.

The most concerning thing however was the _baby_ in the man’s arms.

“ _Wally, can you hear me? There must be some interference.”_

“Things just got...worse,” Wally murmured underneath his breath. “Be back in a second.”

“Nah-ah,” the man waggled one of his fingers at Wally, the baby seemingly secure in the man’s arms. “I must say I’m disappointed in you.” He wasn’t even really looking at Wally. “I told you what would happen if you were to call for help. And what do you do? No, no this won’t do. I’m afraid this will be the end of dear, little-”

Without any warning, Wally zipped closer to what must have been Calendar Man, the tattoos around his head seemed pretty telling, and snatched the baby away. He went back to his position beside Batman, but remained standing.

“-Jeremy. What?” Calendar Man looked down at his empty hands and back up at Wally, as if seeing him for the first time. “Who are you? What was that?”

Right. He shouldn’t probably promote his speed. Not now anyway. “Why, it’s my little magic trick. Don’t you like it?” Wally grinned while briefly checking over the baby. The small boy was just babbling along and waving his hands but he seemed unharmed. Thankfully. He smiled down before looking back at the problem in the room. There was no way he could get Batman and the baby out of here with them still there.

“Magic trick?? No, _no!_ You’re disrupting everything! He’s supposed to die in two days. We’re so close! So close!”

Wally couldn’t tell if he was witnessing a mental breakdown or if this guy was always like that. And he didn’t dare ask Oracle about it right then. It was better to keep his attention on the man and the baby. Little Jeremy really did make things a bit more difficult.

“But it’s fine, it’s fine,” Calendar Man took deep breaths as he calmed himself down. “We will simply have to rectify this situation. Saturday, Sunday, kill him!” Both Grundys started to move, inhuman noises escaping them as Calendar Man vanished behind both giants.

Alright. Okay. That was…. _okay_. Quickly turning around, Wally gently placed Jeremy between one of Batman’s arms and his torso, making sure the head was lying correctly on Batman’s shoulder. “You’ll have to watch the big guy for me Jeremy. Behave now,” he told the boy who was just staring up at him with big eyes.

It would have been the most adorable thing ever, if there wouldn’t have been two monstrous giants behind him.

Wally quickly turned around and zipped to the other side of the room, away from the two people he had to save, and took a broken brick from the ground, throwing it at one of the Grundys. Of course it did nothing upon impact but all he had wanted had been their attention anyway. Batman and Jeremy had to stay safe. “I’m here you dolts! Wanna bet who’s stronger?? You guys or me,” he grinned with a lifted head. He wasn’t even sure if his baiting and teasing would do anything to the two of them as they didn’t really react besides angry growling and yelling. At least Grundy back home talked to people sometimes.

“We could also totally talk this out, if you like?” It was a shot in the dark and based on the way both Grundys - had Wally heard correctly earlier? Were they called like the weekend days?? - ran towards him they didn’t want to talk it out. “Nice,” Wally huffed and speeded away from their attacks, landing a few punches on his own that did nothing at all.

He wouldn’t be able to defeat them on his own, at least not in the way Batman had defeated the other’s. Although he was curious on how he had done that. Surely Batman hadn’t just..beat them up?? That would be insane.

“I got a problem,” he activated his communicator again. “Two Grundys and both are very mad.”

_“What?!”_

“I said it! What do I do?!” Wally kept dodging their attacks while making sure to stay away from Batman and Jeremy. He sidestepped a rather large swing of an arm but didn’t look where he went, so he stumbled right over the arm of a not so alive Grundy and fell over, landing on one of the bodies in the corner. “Oh, ew, no!” But the Grundy who had swung at him hadn’t stopped his own momentum, punching the other one on accident as well.

 _That_ actually gave him an idea.

"Keep thinking, I'll try something." 

" _Wally-"_

Oracles voice faded into the background as he focused on his enemies and made for the one who had tried to hit him. He used his momentum for a small jump and punched him right in the face, before ducking away underneath the other Grundy. 

The one he had ducked beneath tried to turn after him, only to get tackled by the one Wally had punched. Both Grundys pushed at each other, obviously displeased. 

Wally grinned to himself, and went right between the two again, making sure to catch the attention of one or two, only to zip away at the right moment. 

It seemed that these Grundys had even less of a brain than the Grundy he knew. He didn't even have to do much for the two of them to go at each other in the end. Occasionally he made sure to antagonize them further and keep them away from those he meant to keep safe. 

They became more violent the longer this went on and before Wally knew it did one of the two grab the other and smash his opponents face in. Over and over, despite there being almost only mush in the end. Wally stared at the scenario, having not expected…he had seen many things but…

He shook his head. These Grundys were obviously… _not right_ and he had meant to deal with them, hadn't he? Yet he couldn't help but wonder if the Grundy he knew would have gone that far too. Something in his gut told him _yes_. That they just never had let it get that far. 

Swallowing, Wally watched the one remaining Grundy slowly stop, breathing heavily as he stared down at what he had done. Seemingly unbothered, Grundy stood up and looked around, as if he had forgotten that Wally was there. 

That was Wally's chance.

He picked up a brick from the floor and threw it at Grundy who just blinked the dirt away. Or into his eye. The blue skin didn't look too healthy now. 

"Died…on Saturday," the giant growled and made for Wally in a little run. The rubble on the ground vibrated under Grundy's weight. 

Wally easily sidestepped him and made sure to trip him up, causing Grundy to slam head first into the wall. The wall shook but held firm as Grundy slowly got up again, seemingly more dazed than before. 

" _Would you just listen! Are you still fighting?!"_

Wally startled at hearing oracles voice. "Uh yeah, only one now though. One knocked the other out but my plan didn't make it that far." 

" _From what Batman told me back then, Grundy is no joke either,"_ Oracle said with an exasperated huff. " _So listen now. You're going to go to Batman and take a Batarang out of his belt. Right side, more to the back. You're going to unfold it and press the small button on it. After that throw it at Grundy."_

He was at Batman's side in an instant and knelt down, tentatively, but also with the pressure of not having much time, and reached for the Batarang Oracle told him about. For some reason he had expected to get an electrical shock just for trying. "God, this feels so wrong," he murmured and let the Batarang unfold. He stared at it before Grundy making his displeasure loudly known drew him out of it. 

He pressed the button, weird smokey trails wafting up, and threw the Batarang. It flew too much to the left and for an entire second he thought he had blown his chance!...but then it hit Grundy on the shoulder. If only Grundy moved around so much to get to Wally. 

A faint, glossy sheen spread out from the Batarang embedded in Grundy's shoulder before it grew. Within seconds a layer of ice grew on Grundy's body, immobilizing him and freezing him in place. It even spread around the head. 

Before Wally knew it, everything was quiet. Save for the faint cracking noise of ice in a too warm environment. And a baby's babbling. 

Right. He probably shouldn't linger. 

"It worked!" Wally immediately turned around and took in the room again. "How to get Batman out though? I don't want to leave him or the baby alone." It was times like these that he really wished for super strength. 

" _I'm glad! I could locate your position in the meantime. I already sent the Batmobile to you but…you'll have to get out by yourself. Or find a hiding space. The Batmobile can blow up the entire wall where you are but it's too risky to do that while you're there."_

Wally looked from one wall to the other. So…he wasn't really underground? That felt impossible with the way he had traveled down floor after floor. "Which wall is it? I could try my hand at it."

" _At blowing it up?_ _Are there some explosives?"_ Oracle sounded even more concerned than before, muttering something about how she definitely couldn't blow them out of there then.

"Uh, no. Tell me which wall?" Although how she knew which wall it would be for him was beyond him. 

" _The north one. The plan shows some removed walls in the east. So…"_

To the side of him were some bars, making makeshift cells. He looked around there somewhere and decided that this must be east then. There probably had been a wall once, before the bars were put in, meaning he had to take the wall left of it? 

" _Is it rude for me to ask again what you're going to do?"_

"No," Wally actually chuckled and went up to the wall. There he placed both hands on it. "If you're right and if I'm right about the wall, then I'm going to make it blow up outward."

" _How??"_

He couldn't help but smile secretively, thinking about the hours spent with Barry, trying to perfect this. He never had… 

"I'm going to vibrate my hands to match that of the molecules in the wall," he explained as he did so, his fingers already slipping into the wall as if it was mud. "And then-"

The wall exploded away from him with a loud snap the second he slipped into it almost completely, using his body as a way to direct the molecules away from him. "-I destabilize it enough to blow up." 

He grinned at the fresh air when the dust settled. How this wall was facing into an open area on the ground was beyond him. Maybe he had moved farther underground than he had imagined.

" _That's impressive!"_ She said and breathed out a laugh. " _The Batmobile will arrive in a few seconds. Move Batman to one of the back seats and then sit down yourself."_

The distant roar of an engine disrupted the otherwise quiet air, the sky appearing a slightly lighter grey in the distance. The sun must come up. 

"And who's going to drive the car?" Wally moved back to his two charges and smiled at Jeremy before picking him up and glancing at Batman. Why hasn't he woken up yet? 

He gave the frozen Grundy one nervous look before moving to the Batmobile that rolled to a stop, the back opening up. 

"Woah, _that_!" The Batmobile was a _tank?_ What? That looked awesome. 

Oracle laughed in his ear. " _That's the usual reaction. And it will drive itself, with my supervision of course."_

"Are you serious?!" Wally said as he gently placed Jeremy on one of the empty seats. He mentally told the baby to stay right there before zipping back to Batman. 

" _I am! Don't worry about it._ " 

Alright. He'd just worry about the next issue. Like how he should move Batman. Unsure how to go about this, Wally bent down and put his hands underneath Batman. The heavy cape prevented him from a good grip and he had to pull on the cape this way and that so that it left enough room for him to put his hands underneath Batman's arms. Satisfied, he lifted Batman up as far as he dared and started to walk backwards towards where he knew the car was, Batman's boots dragging over the floor. 

"He's as heavy as he looks," Wally groaned out, feeling mildly bad about dragging the other like that but there was no way he'd be able to lift him bridal style. Or any other way. 

Oracles laughter chimed in his ear as he reached the car and gently placed Batman back on the ground. There he stood over him, both of his feet planted on either side of Batman. He reached down and pulled Batman up by an arm. Once the other was close enough, Wally bent lower and basically hugged Batman around the torso. Feeling slightly flustered for no reason at all, Wally stood up and stepped forward. He had lifted Batman just high enough to place him decently in the empty seat and made sure the other was sitting upright enough without the danger of slipping. Wally stepped back when the restraints at the top of the seat moved down, keeping Batman in place. 

"Cool."

" _I know right? Get in too."_

Wally would have preferred running alongside it but there was Jeremy and the fact that Robin had said he shouldn't be seen. 

Sighing, he gently picked up Jeremy who babbled at him, he was such a good baby, and sat down. The restraints moved down for him as well before the seats tipped back and moved back into the car. 

Lights around the interior made it easier to see while the car started to move. They would have been jolted around rather badly if the seats wouldn't have had some counterbalance built in, making the ride almost easy on the stomach. Almost. But Wally would endure. 

After a little while he leaned back, cuddling Jeremy close and let his head fall sideways watching Batman. The lights weren't that bright and Batman's suit too dark to make out many features but Wally could still clearly see the others chin and mouth. He realized that this was the first time that he could take a good look at the other. Without the constant movement of Batman appearing or vanishing out of sight. Or the anxiety that whatever Wally said would make him anything less but harmless. But now…

The chin he could see looked nothing like the one from back home. He hadn't even thought a taller Batman could or would exist. It was still a rather attractive chin however. If he looked like anything close to Batman back home, he would probably be very attractive….

Shaking the silly thoughts from his head, Wally turned his attention down to Jeremy and smiled somewhat. He let Jeremy play with one of his hands, the gloves material fascinating the boy enough to make him laugh.


End file.
